Just in time for the big game, Yahoo has revealed a big and beautiful redesign for Yahoo Sports. It features bigger photos, more video content and a look and feel that's similar to the one used for the new Yahoo TV and Yahoo Food. The individual sports pages also include content powered by Yahoo Answers.
Now compare these three sites with the first Brand Universe site dedicated to all things Nintendo Wii. The design may look similar, but there's a lot more content from sites where consumers publish. Specifically, it includes links to blogs, Flickr photos and also Yahoo Answers. Time reports Yahoo is consolidating its interfaces as it reorganizes.
Yahoo seems to be faced with a disease that a lot of big companies have. They're launching sites that are drastically inconsistent. For example, some embrace RSS, many others don't. To me this is a sign of a company that's stuck in silos. They need someone like a Marissa Mayer type looking over the entire portfolio for synergies, overlaps and inconsistencies.
